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Karl Ruprect Kroenen
Karl Ruprecht Kroenen is a fictional Nazi scientist in the Hellboy comics, created by Mike Mingola. In the comics, Kroenen was a relatively unremarkable Nazi SS scientist, whose most distinguishing characteristic was that he always wore a gas mask and protective bodysuit, possibly due to severe obsessive-compulsive disorder and fear of bacteria. Director Guillermo del Toro created a significantly expanded biography for the character, to appear as a villain in the 2004 film adaptation. Comic History A German scientist working for the Nazis, and a member of the Thule Society, Dr. Kroenen became one of the top scientists for Project Ragna Rok, and a close disciple of Grigori Rasputin, along with Ilsa Haupstein and Leopold Kurtz. He was present with Rasputin at the secret ritual in Scotland that brought Hellboy to the world. Kroenen, Haupstein, and Kurtz were frozen inside a secret Nazi base, until they were resuscitated by industrialist Roderick Zinco, acting on Rasputin's orders. Kroenen resumed work on several of his former projects, including making an "Apocalypse Army" by combining corpses with robotics. He also convinced Zinco to retrieve the head of his colleague, Herman von Klempt, from South America. Kroenen retained an affection for his colleague, though Rasputin had rejected von Klempt as unsuitable for Ragna Rok. When von Klempt's head was re-animated, he tried to convince Kroenen to abandon Rasputin's plan - to awaken the Ogdru Jahad - and instead to use the Army to retrieve von Klempt's work in South America. Overhearing, Kurtz became furious and attacked von Klempt's head, screaming, "Rasputin is master!" In a panic, Kroenen seized a knife and killed Kurtz. When their plan failed, an enraged Rasputin struck Zinco blind. Wandering around, Zinco accidentally pressed a self-destruct button in the base, destroying it completely and taking Kroenen with it. Film history Karl Ruprecht Kroenen was born in Munich, Germany in 1897. As a young boy, he was an opera prodigy. He sang in all of the capitals of Europe until the fatal day when he hit puberty on stage and lost his opera voice and career. He preformed brutal experiments and surgeries on himself due to his addiction. He created his tight-fit gas mask to filter out bacteria because of his vulnerable health from removing his lips and eyelids. In 1930 he met Grigori Rasputin and soon became his loyal follower. In 1933 he joined Hitler’s SS and soon after joined The Thule Society, a nazi occultism group. He assisted in Project Ragnarok, where the group conjured the scarlet beast, Hellboy. Their plan was flawed due to the attack from the allied forces. In the attack, a grenade was detonated and blew off Kroenen’s left hand and sent a chunk of shrapnel through his chest. It was after this that he seemingly disappeared. In 2004, he reappeared and resurrected Grigori Rasputin. He was trapped in a pit where Hellboy dropped a cog over him to trap him after killing his father. He is presumably set to reappear in the third installment, as an alternate ending meant to set up the start of the third movie was made. It had Zinco being led by Russian Mercenaries to his pit. After Zinco betrayed the mercenaries by having his men gun them down, he returns to Zinco Enterprises with his body in tow. However, his company is not willing to do the procedure as not only was it illegal, but borderline occultist. He then decides to go to the Arctic, where a remnant of the Project Ragna Rok base was located. After nearly being killed by a collapsing Ice Shelf, he then inserts Kronen's head into a machine dome. Completely revived by the machine, Kronen laughs insidiously and tells his "master" that this was just what he promised. Zinco is initially confused as to why he called him Master, until he heard someone coming behind him. It turns out that Grigori Rasputin somehow returned from the grave and he tells Zinco and Kronen that they have served them well and that he has one more task for them. Kroenen has killed allied troops, BPRD agents, and Trevor Bruttenholm, the man who threw the grenade which took his hand. Category:Hellboy Movie characters